Suspect in Wilson bank robbery is caught at Palmer Twp. bar

N.J. man was arrested about a half hour after the holdup.

A bank robbery suspect was nabbed outside a Palmer Township bar Thursday afternoon about a half hour after he allegedly robbed a bank about a mile away in Wilson.

Phillip K. Lyons, 46, of Morristown, N.J., was in Northampton County Prison under $50,000 straight bail Thursday evening following an arraignment by District Justice James Stocklas in Bethlehem on a different set of charges. Lyons is accused of fleeing from state police Feb. 5 in Hanover Township, Northampton County, as well as other traffic violations. Wilson Police Chief Richard Nace said Lyons will eventually be charged in the bank robbery, but said it must be determined if the case will be handled locally or by federal prosecutors.

While Lyons didnt directly say whether he was innocent or guilty, when asked he said, Its better than robbing old ladies.

For police, the arrest was a matter of timing, both good and bad.

Nace said he drove through the parking lot of the Lafayette Ambassador Bank at 18th and Butler streets around 3 p.m., looking inside the bank as he passed on patrol, just to make sure everything was in order. He pulled from the lot and drove less than a block to District Justice Michael Koury Jr.s office in the 1700 block of Butler Street.

He then heard on his police radio that there was an armed robbery happening at the bank he had just checked. He must have seen me go through [the parking lot] and he came in behind me, Nace said.

Nace said bank workers immediately activated their alarm when Lyons, pulling a ski mask over his face, came in the bank. He said Lyons displayed a gun in the bank. The amount of money taken was not released. No one was hurt.

Around 3:30 p.m., Palmer Township police Lt. James Young spotted a car matching the description of the getaway vehicle in the back parking lot at Fat Jacks bar on Freemansburg Avenue. Palmer police surrounded the building and captured Lyons without incident as he walked out the front door.

Paul Parenteau said he was tending bar at Fat Jacks when Lyons came in and ordered a beer. He said Lyons paid with a $5 bill and then asked to use the pay phone in the bar. He said Lyons then walked to the back of the bar and opened the back door. He theorized Lyons must have seen police, turned around and walked out the front door.

A witness was brought to the bar by police to identify Lyons. The man, who declined to give his name, said he was in the bank at the time of the robbery and tried to run after the robber.

As Lyons was taken away in a Wilson police car, his nearly finished beer still sat on the bar, with his $2 in change next to the bottle. Parenteau saw a lighter side to that aspect of the day. If hes going to rob a bank, he could have left me a little more than that, he said.

I only had one drink. I didnt even get to finish my beer, Lyons said after his arraignment.

Palmer Police Chief Bruce Fretz said police recovered a small handgun, a large amount of cash, and suspected drugs from Lyons outside the bar. Police took plastic bags, containing what appeared to be white powder, from Lyons at the bar. Nace said later that the car Lyons was driving was reported stolen Thursday in Stockertown.

FBI Special Agent Alan R. Jones asked anyone with information on the case to call the Allentown FBI office at 610-433-6488.